Leaving Survival Mode Behind: Four Trauma-Healing Tools to Support Your Mental Health This Year
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s have come and gone. The calendar has reset, the obligations have slowed, and on the surface, it feels like you should finally be able to relax.
But instead, you may still feel wired, tense, overwhelmed, or exhausted. That isn’t a personal failure, it’s your nervous system still operating in survival mode after a period of prolonged stress.
This experience is far more common than we talk about, especially after seasons filled with emotional labor, complicated family dynamics, financial pressure, or ongoing relational trauma. Chronic relational trauma, including emotionally unsafe or narcissistic relationships, can keep the nervous system on high alert long after the immediate stressor has passed.
Being stuck in survival mode doesn’t mean something is wrong with you. It’s a biological response to an environment that requires you to stay vigilant. If this resonates, it means you were surviving, not failing.
Below are four practical, trauma-informed tools you can begin using this year to support regulation, safety, and healing.
Your Nervous System Is Exhausted: 6 End-of-Year Signs You Need Emotional Rest
The holidays are meant to bring joy, connection, and celebration, yet many people find themselves feeling overwhelmed, stretched thin, and emotionally detached from it all. It’s easy to see why; Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, we’re met with emotional, physical, relational, financial, and spiritual pressures. And in 2025, with inflation still high, global conflicts looming in the background, political tension constantly streaming through our TVs and phones, and a culture that heavily pushes mass consumerism, it’s no surprise the holidays don’t always feel quite like they used to.
Holiday Triggers Are Real: How Trauma Shows Up and how to Protect Your Peace
It's the holiday season. Everywhere you look on social media, TV, and in-stores, there are images of cozy living rooms, warm candlelight, and families laughing together. But for many, the reality doesn’t match that picture-perfect vision.
You may know this feeling. Where you pull into a familiar driveway, step out into the crisp air, and hear the chatter of relatives. Your body reacts before your mind catches up: a tight chest, a knot in your stomach, a sense of bracing. Because you already know that when families gather together, old dynamics begin to surface.
Even with healing work behind you, family environments can pull you back into old roles, the peacemaker, the quiet one, or the “problem child.” Holiday gatherings often trigger survival mode rather than joy.
Common Sources of Holiday Trauma
Family-of-origin dynamics that conditioned you to walk on eggshells
Narcissistic or emotionally immature parents
Past relationships, divorce, or breakups
Grief or loss, especially heightened during the holidays
Community-level trauma, like natural disasters or local crises
Being near family can reopen wounds you didn’t expect. Old narratives, expectations, and roles can feel hard to navigate, even after years of healing. Let’s explore what might be triggering those feelings and how you can gently protect your peace.